Collapsible carton



Dec. 20, 1955 A. ROUS 2,727,674

COLLAPSIBLE CARTON Filed June 4, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

ARTHUR ROUS BY W ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1955 A. ROUS 2,727,674

COLLAPSIBLE CARTON Filed June 4, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 l! FIG. 7.

INVEN TOR.

ARTHUR KOUS A T TOENE YS Dec. 20, 1955 A. ROUS 2,727,674

COLLAPSIBLE CARTON Filed June 4, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

21 6 BY W ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1955 A. Rous COLLAPSIBLE CARTON 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 4, 1948 INVENTOR. ARTHUR Rous ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1955 A. Rous 2;?337574 COLLAPSIBLE CARTON Filed June 4, 194a 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TOR.

ARTHUR KOUS ATTO R N EYS United States Patent My invention relatesto anew and improved collapsible carton or box for holding'can's, such as cans of soup and other food products.

Such cans are provided with respective recesses at their ends, thus providing annular internal shoulders attheir respective ends.

According to my invention, I provide the carton with locking flaps which lock said cans in position. These locking flaps are hingedly connected to the body of the carton, as by scoring the cartonblank along respective fold or hinge lines. These locking flaps are biased and held by the resilience'of the material of the carton, into locking position. These locking flaps may be applied to all the cans of arow of cans, oronly to the end cans of such row. The cartons can be made of cardboard or box board or other suitabl'e-materiahwhich can be easily cut and bent andwhich has sufiicient resilience.

Numerous additional objects and advantages and features of my invention. are disclosed in the annexed description and drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments. s

Fig. 1 is a top' plan embodiment;

Fig. 2 is a perspective-view showing the blank of Fig. 1 in the glued-together conditionto providea collapsible carton;

Fig. 3 shows the carton of Fig. 2 with itslocking flaps bent up and out of lockingposition, in order to show said locking flaps moreclearly;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the carton in completely set-up condition, and filled with cans;

Fig. 5 is a cross-section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of tbecarton blank of the second embodiment;

Fig. 7 shows the carton blank of Fig. Gin glued-together condition to provide a collapsible carton;

Fig. 8 shows the filled carton of Fig. 7';

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a carton blank of the third embodiment;

Fig. 10 shows the glued-together carton of Fig. 9 with the locking flapsbent upwardly as in Fig. 3;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a carton blank of the fourth embodiment;

Fig. 12 shows the carton blank of Fig. 11 in partly assembled position;

Fig. 13 illustrates a modification of Fig: 11;

Fig. 14 illustrates the assembly of the blank of Fig. 13;

Fig. 1 5 is a carton blank similar to the carton blank of Fig. 1, for providing a double carton or box;

Fig. 16 shows the filled and set-up carton or box of Fig. 15. Fig. 16 showsone of the sections of the box, in dot-and-dash lines and also in broken lines, prior to the final assembly;

Fig. 17 is a modification of Fig.

' Fig. 18 shows the modification of Fig. 17 in set-up condition;

Fig. 19 is a perspective view of another modification in view of a carton blank of the first set-up condition, showing how the holding flaps are bent 2,727,674 Patented Dec. 20, 1955 to substantially abut the inner face of the respective wall of the carton; and

Fig. 20 is a sectional view of Fig. 19, showing a can in position.

First embodiment (Figs. 1-5) Fig. 1 shows a blank which has a bottom wall 1 and side walls 2 and 3. A connecting flap 4 is provided at one edge of the bottom wall 1. This connecting flap 4 is provided with a layer of glue G, which is at the bottom side of the flap 4, as viewed in Fig. 1. This blank is folded along the respective longitudinal fold lines F and the connecting flap 4 is adhesively fixed to the inner side of the longitudinal side wall 2. The blank is thus provided with a partial top wall T which consists of lateral endportions 5 and 6, in order to provide lateral connecting means between the longitudinal side walls 2 and 3. Between these webs S and 6, the top wall T is slitted along the longitudinal slit lines S and it is also cut out to provide respective lateral slots 7. This construction provides three locking or holding flaps 8 at one side of the slit lines S and three additional locking or holding flaps 8a at the other side of the slit lines S. Fig. 2 shows these locking flaps 8 and 8a in the same plane. This is the position of said locking flaps 8 and 8a when the glued-together blank is flat or collapsed. Fig. 3 shows these locking or holding flaps 8 and 8a bent upwardly for convenience of illustration. When the longitudinal side walls 2 and 3 are held vertical and parallel to each other as shown in Fig. 3, the locking flaps 8 and 8a are bent downwardly by doubling their flap-joints until they abut the inner faces of the respective longitudinal side walls 2 and 3. Three cans C, which are shown in dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 4, can now be successively inserted through the open part of top wall T of the box. As shown in Fig. 5, each can C is of conventional shape. The endwall of each can C is provided with a recess R whose circular edge-wall is provided with a circumferential shoulder or bead. Fig. 5 shows one of the locking flaps 8a inclined relative to its side wall and located in locking position in said recess. The natural resilience of the cardboard or other material of the blank, springs the locking fiaps 8 and 8a into the position shown in Fig. 5, and keeps said locking flaps in said locking position. These locking flaps 8 and 8a engage the shoulder or bead of the respective recess R at the points P indicated in Fig. 4, thus holding the cans against shifting relative to the box.

In this embodiment, and also in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh embodiments, i provide a carton which has two parallel and longitudinal side walls, as exemplified by the side-walls 2 and 3. I connect these side walls by an intermediate wall, exemplified by wall 1, and also by additional lateral connecting means, as exemplified by webs 5 and 6. In each of said six embodiments, the holding flaps are connected to the longitudinal edges of the respective side Walls by flap-joints which are doubled when said holding flaps are in holding position. These holding flaps and their flap joints are arranged in laterally opposed pairs. The opposed pairs of flap joints are free from any intermediate wall-portion of the carton, so that the can or other article C can be transversely inserted. When a flap-joint is don led, it is directed towards the intermediate wall 1.

Hence, when the holding flaps are held in laterally disposed position or even outwardly inclined from such laterally disposed position, and a can is transversely inserted into the carton, the can automatically bends the respective pair of holding flaps into holding position, with their respective flap-joints doubled.

Second embodiment (Figs. 68)

In this embodiment, the top wall T is provided with a cut-out 9. The side wall 3 is provided with end flaps 311 and 3b. The side wall 2 is provided with end flaps 2a and 2b. The flap 4 is glued to the inner face of the wall 2, as in the first embodiment. In this embodiment,

the locking flaps are the flaps 2a2b-3a- -3b. These flaps are shown in the non-locking position in Fig. 7, for convenience of illustration. These locking flaps are bent inwardly until they abut the inner faces of the walls 2 and 3, and the cans C are then pushed into position i through one of the end openings of the box. The end cans C are retained by respective locking flaps, which enter the recesses R of said end cans. The central can C is held in position by the end cans C. In this embodiment, in addition to the lateral end Webs 5 and 6, there 3 are longitudinal webs and 19a which prevent the cans from falling out through the top wall T.

Third embodiment (Figs. 9 and 10) This blank has a bottom wall 1 and side walls 2 and 3,

as in the first embodiment. This blank also has end walls 7 11 and 12. The end wall 11 has connecting fiaps or glue-flaps 11a and 11b. The end wall 12 has connecting flaps or glue-flaps 12a and 12b. In Fig. 9, as in the .other figures, the exposed face of the bottom wall 1 is ing flaps 8 and ha in upstanding or non-locking position.

This embodiment has closed end walls.

Fourth embodiment (Figs. 11 and 12) In this embodiment, the side wall 2 is provided with notched connecting flaps or end-wall flaps 14 and 14a,

which have respective notches 15 and 15a. The side wall 3 is provided with respective notched connecting flaps or end-wall flaps 16 and 16a, which have respective notches 17 and 17a.

Fig. 12 shows the notched end-wall flaps 14 and 16 interlocked so as to provide one end wall of the carton. The other notched flaps 16a and 14a are shown in their separated positions. The locking flaps are shown for convenience in their vertical positions. To complete the carton the flaps 16a and 14a are interlocked. This embodiment omits the use of adhesive.

Fifth embodiment (Figs. 13 and 14) In this embodiment, the bottom wall is provided with an end flap 18 at each end thereof. One of these end flaps 18 is shown in Fig. 13. Each end flap 18 is provided with angular slits 19 and 19a. Each end of the side wall 2 is provided with a notched end-flap 20, one of which is shown in Fig. 13. Each end-flap 20 is notched to provide a head 21. provided with a flap 20a which is identical with the flap 20. Each flap 20a has a head 21a.

When the end flaps 18 are bent up as shown in Fig. 14, the respective heads 21 and 21a are inserted into the respective angular slits 19 and 19a, thus interlocking the walls of the box.

Sixth embodiment (Figs. 15 and 16) The two-section blank has two bottom walls 1, two top walls T, two side walls V, and two additional side-walls Va which have respective cut-outs 26 and 26a. The glueflaps 22 and 22a have glue layers G at their top faces as viewed in Fig. 15. Flaps 8, 8a and webs 5 and 6 are in walls V. The blank is slited along line 23, between points 24 and 25. Fig. 16 shows one of the sections, in dashand-dot lines, alined with the other section, and it also shows the first-mentioned section in broken-lines, as bent away from alined position. Walls Va abut each other in Each end of the side wall 3 is 4 the completely set-up condition, in which cut-outs 26 and 26a provide a hand-hold.

Seventh embodiment (Figs. 17 and 18) In the sixth embodiment of Figs. 15 and 16, the exposed face of the blank which is shown in Fig. 15 is uncoated and the other face of said blank is coated. Hence, as shown in Fig. 16, the uncoated faces of the vertical walls Va are visible in the handle portion of the carton.

In the seventh embodiment, this handle portion is constructed so as to expose the coated faces thereof, in order to facilitate printing thereon. Fig. 17 shows that each vertical wall Va is provided with respective extensions 27 and 27a, which have respective cut-outs 28 and 2801. In this seventh embodiment, the glue layers G shown in Fig. 17 are at the top face of the blank. The seventh embodiment of Figs. 17 and 18 is first assembled as shown in Fig. 16, and the extensions 27 and 27a are then bent over the respective handle portions of the walls Va along the respective fold lines shown in Fig. 17 so that the respective cut-outs 26, 26a, 28 and 28a register with each other as shown in Fig. 18. This provides a handle H which has four layers of cardboard or other material, and which has an exposed coated face to receive printed matter. 7

The extensions 27 and 27a may thus be connected to walls Va, before the assembly is completed by connecting flaps 22 and 22a to side walls Va.

In the sixth embodiment of Figs. 15 and 16, the assembled carton can be collapsed to flat shape when said carton is empty and the sections are longitudinally alined. This can also be done with the assembled carton of Figs. 17 and 18. .Whenever I refer to a glue connection, I can use a tongue and slot connection or other mechanical connecting means.

Eighth embodiment (Figs. 19 and 20) Fig. 19 shows a set-up carton which has a bottom wall 1, side-walls 2 and 3, and atop Wall 5a. These walls are turnably connected to each other at their junction edges E, as in other embodiments. Said carton can be made of a single flat blank, as in other embodiments. The glue flap, such as the flap 4, is not shown in Fig. 19, as such glue flap is conventional.

The bottom wall 1 is provided with two integral holding flaps 30 and 30a, which are turnable about the scored fold lines 31 and 31a, at respective edges of bottom wall 3.

A single can C is inserted into the carton. The can C has a bottom bead Ca, which defines a recess in the bottom of can C. Before inserting the can C, the holding flaps 30 and 3011 are turned by the finger of the operator, until said holding flaps 30 and 30a substantially abut the inner face of bottom wall 1. The holding flaps 30 and 30a thus enter the recess at the bottom of can C. When the can C is fully inserted into the carton, said holding flaps30 and 30a spring upwardly into the bottom recess of can C, so that said holding flaps 30 and 30a abut the circular bead Ca at the convex edges of said holding flaps 30 and 30a, thus retainingcan C in position. The can C may have a tight or frictional fit between top wall 5a and bottom wall 1.

In this embodiment, the flap-joints are in the same wall 1, and said flap-joints are reversely doubled.

In each embodiment,'the holding flaps are finally located in the interior of the set-up carton. Whenin final position, said holding flaps are preferably substantially parallel to a respective adjacent wall of the set-up carton.

Hence the invention applies-to a carton which contains one or more cans. p

In each embodiment, I provide a collapsible carton which is adapted to hold at least one can, said carton having holding flaps at oneor more walls thereof, said holding flaps being turnably connected to said carton at the respective wall or walls, said holding flaps being turnable to holding positions in which said holding flaps are located in the interior of the set-up carton, said holding flaps being shaped to enter the end-recess or end'recesses of a can or cans. The embodiments of Figs. 18 and 19 require minimum stock in the original flat integral blank, and the convex faces of the holding flaps may continuously abut the respective parts of the bead or rim 8a, thus providing maximum holding eifect.

I have disclosed preferred embodiments of my invention, but numerous changes and omissions and additions and variations can be made without departing from its scope.

I claim:

1. A carton blank comprising a top wall panel which has longitudinal side edges, two side wall panels each having longitudinal edges, each said side wall panel being hingedly connected along one of its longitudinal edges to a respective side edge of said top wall panel, and a bottom wall panel hingedly connected to the other longitudinal edge of one of said side Wall panels, said panels being foldable along said hinge connections to a condition of perpendicularity of adjacent panels, said bottom wall panel being provided with means for conmeeting it to the other side wall panel, said top wall panel having a pair of lateral slots extending across the entire width thereof to define a flap section between said lateral slots, said flap section having a longitudinal slit extending the entire length thereof and also having lateral slots branching from said longitudinal slit to provide two longitudinal rows of flaps which are arranged in laterally opposed pairs, said flaps being bendable into substantial parallelism with said side walls and having resilient joints at their junctions with said side walls, said resilient joints biasing said flaps away from said side walls.

2. A blank in accordance with claim 1, in which said lateral slots of said flap section are spaced from the longitudinal side edges thereof.

3. A carton comprising a bottom wall, longitudinal side walls connected to said bottom wall and a longitudinal top Wall connected at its side edges to respective side walls, said top wall having lateral slits adjacent its lateral edges, said lateral slits extending to the longitudinal junctions of said top wall with said side walls to provide end-webs located respectively outwardly of said lateral slits, said top wall having a longitudinal slit located between its longitudinal edges and extending between said lateral slits, said top wall also having lateral slots branching from said longitudinal slit to provide two longitudinal rows of flaps which are arranged in laterally opposed pairs, said carton being adapted to be set up with adjacent walls perpendicular to each other, said flaps being bendable downwardly between said side walls into substantial parallelism with said side walls and having resilient joints at their junctions with said side walls, said resilient joints biasing said flaps away from said side walls.

4. A carton comprising a bottom wall, longitudinal side walls connected to said bottom wall and a longitudinal top wall connected at its side edges to respective side walls, said top wall having lateral slits adjacent its lateral edges, said lateral slits extending to the longitudinal junctions of said top wall with said side walls to provide end-webs located respectively outwardly of said lateral slits, said top wall having a longitudinal slit located between its longitudinal edges and extending between said lateral slits, said top wall also having lateral slots branching from said longitudinal slit to provide two longitudinal rows of flaps which are arranged in laterally opposed pairs, said lateral slots being spaced from the longitudinal junctions of said top wall with said side .walls, said carton being adapted to be set up with adjacent walls perpendicular to each other, said flaps being bendable downwardly between said side walls into substantial parallelism with said side walls and having resilient joints at their junctions with said side walls, said resilient joints biasing said flaps away from said side walls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 27, 

